This invention relates to cotton harvesters and, more particularly, to controls for the compactors in the baskets of cotton harvesters. More specifically, the invention relates to a programmable control for cotton harvester compactors.
Self-propelled cotton harvesters are well known and have been in use for many years. In general, such cotton harvesters comprise a wheeled implement having an engine, transmission gears associated with the wheels and operator controls for driving the implement. Picking units including drums carrying spindles and doffers are mounted at the front of the implement and a blower transports the picked and doffed cotton to a receptable, commonly called a basket, mounted on the rear portion of the implement. Hydraulic means is associated with the basket for dumping a full load of cotton therefrom into a wagon or the like.
As the picked cotton is blown into the basket, it is light and fluffy so that it has low bulk density which results in inefficient utilization of basket capacity. In order to deal with this problem so that each basket load will contain an optimum weight of cotton for the fixed basket volume, cotton harvesters commonly are equipped with some type of compactor for tamping down and increasing the density of the cotton blown into the basket. Two basic forms of compactor have been widely employed; an open vane form whch can be pivotably reciprocated in the basket, and an auger which can be rotated to transport and compact the cotton in the basket. In either case, the implement operator must use his discretion to activate the compactor in either of two modes, continuous operation until turned off or until the control lever is released, or individual short cycles manually controlled from a control panel.
It is well known to those skilled in the art that the timing and mode of operation of the compactor is most important in determining the final efficiency of the entire harvesting operation. Heretofore, operation of the compactor has been controlled by the operator at his discretion. In a cotton harvester previously manufactured by the assignee of the subject invention, the operator has a choice of manual or automatic control. In the manual mode, the operator pushes a switch to activate the compactor through a three-stroke cycle and back to the dwell position. In the automatic mode, the operator sets the switch to "automatic" and the compactor operates through successive three-stroke cycles with a dwell period between each cycle. A variable control regulates the length of the dwell time at the operator's discretion to match the compactor's work to the cotton harvesting rate which is in turn dependent on such factors as the density of the standing crop and the ground speed of the harvester. Typically, the compactor strokes are approximately three seconds apart and the dwell time is adjustable from zero to approximately six minutes.
In the described operation, the operator must determine when to start the compactor in the course of picking each load of cotton. If he starts too early, energy will be wasted in operating the compactor needlessly; and the total cotton load will be reduced because the compactor, in stroking down and up through the streams of blown cotton will prevent complete filling of the rear of the basket. If the operator starts the compactor too late, he will have to proceed with harvesting at a reduced speed during the remaining part of that particular load to afford the compactor time to work effectively.
Other problems sometimes arise when the operator inadvertently forgets to turn the compactor off after unloading a basket-load of cotton. In that event, the compactor will cycle wastefully until turned off or until its use is required again after the next partial load of cotton has been picked.
Typically, an operator will harvest from just a few to as many as 50 loads of cotton per day, and a properly compacted load will contain up to 20 percent more cotton than an uncompacted load. There thus exists a need for means to reduce, to the greatest extent possible, operator discretion over operation of the compactor.